Diplomacy strives to accompany localities

The accompanying role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in foreign affairs in various fields, especially economic diplomacy and diplomacy for development, has been recognized and highly appreciated by many provinces and cities.

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and delegates at the Meet Japan 2023 Conference, November 2023. (Photo: Tuan Anh)

Speaking at a forum on attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) held in Hanoi, Mr. Le Duy Thanh, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the People's Committee of Vinh Phuc province, highly appreciated the role of the Foreign Affairs sector in supporting the locality in connecting with international investors as well as attracting high-quality FDI sources.

“We have prepared very well the conditions to attract FDI such as: clean land resources, proactively planning industrial parks to create an environment to attract investment. We also prepare the technology ecosystem with a clear awareness that, in addition to land, we also consider infrastructure to serve investors, in order to create a good life for investors. For a long time, we have implemented foreign economic policies well and have the support of departments, ministries, and branches, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said Mr. Le Duy Thanh.

Along with the country's development and the success of the FDI attraction strategy, from a purely agricultural province, Vinh Phuc has risen to become one of the leading industrial centers in the North. In the first 10 months of 2023, the province attracted nearly 558 million USD of FDI capital, an increase of 34.82% over the same period in 2022 and reaching 139.4% of the plan. At the same time, it attracted more than 21 trillion VND of DDI capital, reaching 215.5% over the same period in 2022 and exceeding 4.26 times the 2023 plan.

The success of Vinh Phuc in attracting FDI through investment promotion and connection programs with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a typical story showing the efforts of the Foreign Affairs sector in supporting local economic development. With the coordination of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in recent times, many localities across the country have organized large-scale investment promotion conferences with the participation and direction of the Prime Minister, attracting a large number of representatives of diplomatic missions, business associations, organizations and foreign partners in Vietnam.

Make a special mark

Assessing the implementation of local foreign affairs in the past two years since the 20th National Foreign Affairs Conference (December 2021), Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Nhu Hieu affirmed that this work has left many unique marks on the country's map, contributing to helping localities create more and converge external resources to serve immediate socio-economic recovery goals and long-term sustainable development.

In addition to long-standing, traditional partners, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to promote the search for cooperation opportunities with new partners such as Middle Eastern countries, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Israel, etc. Many exciting connection activities between countries, key markets of Vietnam with localities are organized in 2022 and 2023.

These include the events Meeting Korea (Thanh Hoa, March 24-25, 2022; Binh Dinh, May 13-14, 2022, Bac Ninh, May 17-18, 2023); Meeting Europe (Ho Chi Minh City, November 28-30, 2022); Meeting Japan 2023 (Binh Dinh, July 7, 2023; Binh Duong, September 9, 2023; Hanoi, November 2, 2023); Meeting Thailand (Quang Tri, August 4, 2023); Meeting Canada (Ho Chi Minh City, August 21, 2023); Introducing Cao Bang (October 3, 2023); Introducing Quang Ngai (October 25, 2023); Series of Programs to Promote Vietnamese Localities in Australia, Japan - Korea, UK 2023; World Cities Mayors Forum, 3rd Development Bridge Forum (Da Nang, March 17, 2023)…

Within the framework of the events, there were thousands of connections between localities, Vietnamese enterprises with international enterprises and partners, many activities were attended by Government leaders such as Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang.

In the past two years, especially in 2023, the "coverage" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in many localities has been significantly enhanced. A series of working sessions between Minister Bui Thanh Son and the Ministry's leaders with the Standing Committees of the Provincial/Municipal Party Committees of Ho Chi Minh City, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Ninh Binh, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Binh Dinh, Nam Dinh, Phu Tho, Quang Ngai, Hai Duong... were actively carried out.

The foreign affairs cooperation programs between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and localities include many comprehensive and extensive contents, demonstrating the Ministry's strong commitment to localities, making practical contributions to socio-economic development goals, successfully implementing the 10-year socio-economic development strategy 2021-2030, and the five-year socio-economic development plan 2021-2025.

A new point is that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with its large network of connections, has supported localities to invite and bring international delegations (diplomatic delegations, foreign business associations, etc.) to the locality to experience real products and local brands such as learning about the culture and heritage in Ninh Binh, enjoying Hai Duong lychee and Hung Yen longan. "The fact that Ninh Binh province has requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support international connections for two consecutive years shows the great encouragement and trust that the locality has for us," said Mr. Nguyen Nhu Hieu.

Accompany, support, serve

To improve the effectiveness of local foreign affairs, in the coming time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will accompany localities to grasp well the trends and developments of the international and domestic situation; creatively apply the Party's policies and guidelines on socio-economic development and foreign affairs to the specific conditions of each locality. On that basis, propose specific plans and projects for each foreign affairs field, in relations with each partner, especially important and potential partners for the development of localities and enterprises.

In addition to traditional areas of work, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to boldly open new areas, seek new partners, new directions with high efficiency, bringing practical results to localities and businesses; find new products to connect internationally more effectively, promote cooperation after events and meetings.

“With the philosophy of 'accompanying, supporting and serving', the Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers the success of localities as a joy and motivation in its work. The 2022-2023 period has seen many improvements compared to previous years, but we expect even more success in the following years, especially in the context of accelerating the realization of the goals set out in the 13th National Party Congress,” Director Nguyen Nhu Hieu shared.

Sending expectations

The wishes, expectations and proposals of localities for the diplomatic sector were sent by representatives of foreign affairs agencies of 63 provinces and cities nationwide at the 32nd Diplomatic Conference and the 21st Foreign Affairs Conference from December 18-23.

For Ho Chi Minh City, it is the wish that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to accompany and closely direct the City's foreign affairs work in the context of intertwined challenges and opportunities after the Covid-19 pandemic; requesting the Ministry to support, connect with potential partners, and promote the City's typical foreign affairs events to international partners.

Bac Giang proposed to coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to organize a seminar on new trends of the world economy and their impact on production, export and investment of some northern localities in the province; participate in a number of international conferences and seminars organized by central ministries and branches, such as: The 12th Conference on cooperation between Vietnamese and French localities; Conference "Meeting Korea"; Online conference of the Government on implementing economic diplomacy; Workshop "UKVFTA Agreement - Green and fair trade with Vietnam"; Kansai Meeting 2023 and Meeting Japan.

Lang Son recommends that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continue to pay attention to directing, orienting, coordinating and supporting the province in foreign affairs and international integration in the new situation, expanding foreign relations, promoting economic diplomacy to serve socio-economic development associated with ensuring security, national defense, building a peaceful, friendly border, and mutual development; expanding friendly cooperation relations with partners: China, Japan, Korea, France, Australia, and some European countries; supporting FDI promotion, mobilizing ODA, and NGOs into the province; organizing training and fostering to improve professional qualifications, foreign languages, knowledge of foreign affairs and international integration, advocacy and international negotiation skills for local officials...

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/ngoai-giao-no-luc-dong-hanh-cung-dia-phuong-253870.html